Practice Management Alert

Question: Which ICD-10 code(s) do I use to describe a patient who has “long COVID”?

Florida Subscriber

Answer: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released an update with coding advice for documenting a long COVID diagnosis.

The CDC says:

• For an unspecified post-COVID-19 condition like long COVID, use code U09.9 (Post COVID-19 condition, unspecified). Add other codes for conditions related to the COVID-19 infection, like R50.9 (Fever, unspecified) for fever.
• For a current COVID-19 infection, use code DX U07.1 (COVID-19). Don’t use code U09.9.
• For a current COVID-19 infection and conditions from a previous COVID-19 infection, use code U09.9 with code U07.1. Add other codes for conditions related to the COVID-19 infection, like R06.02 (Shortness of breath).

For more information, see pages 30-31 of ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting: Fiscal Year 2022 (PDF).